Victorian Greens MP Tim Read has died aged 66 after a 10-month battle with melanoma, the party has announced.
Dr Read represented Brunswick from 2018 and was the first non-Labor politician to win the seat. He announced in January that he would retire from politics at the next state election after being diagnosed with cancer.
The Victorian Greens said it was “truly devastated” by the death of its “dear friend, colleague and beloved MP for Brunswick”, extending its “deepest love” to his wife, children, family and friends.
Parliamentary colleague Ellen Sandell paid tribute to Dr Read, writing: “Vale, our brilliant friend. We will miss you.”
“Tim was a brilliant local MP, doctor and scientist — but to those who knew him, he was also the kindest, funniest and most fundamentally decent of people,” she said.
Ms Sandell said Dr Read “never held back from speaking truth to power”, including being arrested for spray-painting health messages on tobacco billboards before he entered politics and challenging the premier in Question Time.
